St. Ignatius Volunteer Group Changing Lives

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The volunteers from Chicago’s St. Ignatius College Prep were busy repairing homes and repairing lives in Mississippi recently. The group of 18 energetic high school students and their chaperones took on a number of challenging projects.

One of these projects was at nearby work site, where the group assisted a client and her son clean and organize their home. The client has severe depression and rarely leaves the home. Her condition has made the simplest of chores nearly impossible to complete.

St. Ignatius volunteer Dan seemed almost shocked as he described the home. “It was a long shack-type house with all kinds of weeds and branches growing up around it. Some of the branches had grown through the side vents of the window units. It was terrible.”

“There were boxes everywhere,” Clare chimed in. “You could hardly get around all the boxes and papers. She had a little dining table and it was covered in boxes and papers, too, and a plastic Happy Birthday tablecloth. The lady couldn’t tell me how long it had been there.”

Little by little, the volunteers made their way through the home, going through papers, trimming trees and bushes and giving the place a thorough cleaning. It was as though someone opened the blinds and let sunshine in. The change in the client’s disposition was noticeable. She started smiling. At one point the group found a long lost photo of the lady’s son. She was ecstatic.

“She seemed so much happier, hopeful when we left. I thought it was so sweet; she asked for each one of our names, as we were about to leave. She wanted them so she could pray for each of us,” said Moore. “She even ran out to hand one of us a thank you note,” said another chaperone. “That was pretty good for a lady who didn’t leave the house before.”

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